The Spirit of Mischief
by abdon-zamudio
Summary: An ancient tale about Thor and his brother Loki who go to Jotenhiem in search of adventure.


"Tis a misery to be set in the mood most foul. Is there nothing to test my mettle?" asked Thor.

"Oh great and powerful Thor, how ever can I amuse thee?" asked his brother, Loki, who jumped at the chance to goad Thor into doing something painfully stupid.

"Close thy mouth, brother;" said Thor, "I have not need of your trickery."

"Brother," said Loki condescendingly, "Would I ever fool thee? Thou art my greatest love and comrade, do not insult me."

"How do you think I would fare amongst the giants, Loki?" asked Thor pensively.

"There's only one way to find out," said Loki, impishly.

Thor and Loki set off together to look for adventure in Jotunheim, the land of the frost giants. On the first evening of their journey, they stopped at a country-dweller's hut. The peasant had no food to offer his immortal guests, but Thor slaughtered two goats that pulled his chariot and put them in the pot.

When the two gods sat down to eat, they invited the peasant and his family to join them.

"What a lovely journey," said Loki cheerfully, eating his fill of goat and some bread that the peasant had graciously offered. "Art thou excited to meet the giants of Jotunheim? Surely they will be impressed by the great and powerful Thor, god of thunder."

"Yes," said Thor arrogantly, "I believe they will be, brother."

When all had eaten Thor placed the goatskins on the floor by the fire.

Thor rose with the dawn and taking his hammer in his hand, raised it above the goatskins and blessed them. The goats rose, but one goat was lame because the boy had eaten the sweet bone marrow the night before. Thor was furious.

"Someone will pay for this," growled Thor.

Loki sat rolling his eyes on a wooden chair in the corner, "Oh brother, do calm down. No one has time for your antics and brute foolishness. It is good that you will not be tested against my wits, for I would surely win."

Thor ignored Loki.

"My apologies, great Thor," the peasant said, imploring. "My son acted in ignorance. Take all we have, but spare our lives."

Thor's anger cooled when he saw the peasant trembling in fear. He accepted the peasant's son and daughter as recompense for the grievance to his goat.

"Well," said the peasant, "I hope you leave quickly," she said, "Lest I get the scent of poor all over the great gods of thunder and lightning," she added bitterly to herself.

Loki was kind to the children, attempting to console them in their fear of going on the journey to Jotunheim.

"They are the foulest creatures," said Loki, "But I will make sure they do not slaughter you," he assured them.

Loki did not hesitate to make comments to his brother the entire way there.

"How will I amuse thee, Thor?" asked Loki sarcastically. "Wilt I put on a play when we rest for the night. Surely you know that my monologues and my performances are the best in the land! I will make sure that they are as poor as your intellect so that you may understand them."

Thor struggled not to be infuriated by Loki.

"I jest, brother," said Loki, winking at Thor, "I would never truly insult my fine and wonderful brother, god of thunder, the strongest god in Asgard, son of the wyse Odin -

"Stop yourself, Loki," grunted Thor at his brother.

"What did I do?" asked Loki incredulously.

When they did arrive in Jotunheim they found themselves in a deep forest.

Loki admired the green leaves of the forest that reflected on their open leaves the moonlight of Jotunheim.

They travelled until dark, and at night they took refuge in a huge stony cave with several long passageways and a one side-chamber. Thor kept guard.

In the morning, when they stepped out of the cave, they found a giant, snoring away. The giant awakened.

"My name is Skrymir," said the frost giant, "and I can see that you must be Thor from Asgard. Why hast thou been in my glove?"

"We head to Jotunheim," said Thor confidently, puffing up his chest, "In search of an adventure."

"We seem to be going in the same direction," said the giant, "and I _do_ like a party to stroll along with_,_ so why don't you come with me? If I carry your food in my rucksack, you can keep up."

That evening the giant came to a halt by the large oak tree in the forest. He tossed his knapsack to Thor and stretched out beneath the tree. Thor busied himself with the knapsack, but whatever he did; he could not get a single knot undone. Hunger and fatigue made him furious and he took his hammer, Mjolnir, and struck the sleeping giant a fearful blow, right in the center of his forehead.

Loki sat contemplatively on a rock and clucked his tongue at his brother for trying to harm a giant which even his hammer could not defeat.

The giant woke. "What was that?" he asked. "Did a leaf fall on me?"

The giant shrugged his huge shoulders making a grumble in the earth and fell back asleep.

Thor, Loki and the children had to go without their dinner.

At midnight, Thor took up his hammer again and struck another blow. This time he felt the head of the hammer sink into the giant's flesh. The giant said, "Forsooth! A nut must have fallen on me," before going back to his slumber.

Toward dawn, Thor decided that a third blow would surely settle this giant once and for all, so he swung with all his might and buried his hammer up to the handle of the giant's head.

The giant just sat up, saying, "A byrd must have dropped a stick on me from a tree. Ah well, it's time to get up anyway. It's not far to the giants' home, Utgard."

Skrymir lead them to a fork in the road, and pointed them in the direction to Utgard. He went on his way.

They wriggled through the gates; they could just get through the bars and into the courtyard where there were several of the smaller giants at play.

They entered a great hall, full of giants who looked at them with deriding on their faces, and whispering amongst each other, watching the gods closely.

The chief was Utgard-Loki. He laughed when he saw Thor, "This tiny little boy cannot be the great Thor?" he said, "Can thou prove to the court that thy countenance is greater than thee appears so? Entertain us with your glory in strength."

Loki spoke, "I am so famished that I could eat more than any giant."

Logi, the giant, was chosen to compete with Loki. A huge dish was given and placed on the floor between them, piled high with meat.

Loki was famed for his large appetite and he ate quickly, and much because he had had no dinner that night before or breakfast in the morning. They met at the center of the plate, but Loki could only eat the meat, unlike Logi who at the plate and the bones.

Loki lost the contest.

Next it was the peasant boy to entertain the giants. He said he would run a race against anyone. So a track was cleared, and the boy ran against a giant named Hugi. He lost the contest.

It was now Thors turn.

"What about a drinking match?" said Thor, grinning at the prospect of drinking. He was famed among the gods for his drinking.

"A good drinker can drink in one draft," said Utgard-Loki, "though most take two, but no one is so weak as to need three."

Thor looked at the horn and it appeared moderately sized. He began to drink from the horn. When he stopped, the level in the horn was not any lower than before. He tried again, but again, it was no lower than before. And again, he tried, but he was close to bursting.

There came Utgard-Loki's playful smile, "Who would have thought the great Thor was so fragile?"

"I will try anything," said Thor, trying not to reveal his bruised ego.

"Lift the gray cat off the ground," said Utgard-Loki, "I wouldn't suggest it to a man of your reputation, except your countenance does not seem as great as rumored by all of Asgard."

Utgard-Loki snickered to himself at Thor being so easily thwarted.

Thor haughtily went to the cat and put his arms around his belly, but no matter how hard he pulled the cat would not budge.

"Never mind," said Utgard-Loki in his silkiest voice, "After all, it is a rather big cat."

Thor was in a fury, "If you think I am such a weakling, why doesn't one of you come and fight me?" asked Thor, really trying to pick a fight.

Utgard-Loki clucked his tongue, "You cannot expect a self-respecting giant to fight someone who can't even lift up a cat."

An old hag came into the hall and was in a wrestler's stance.

Thor grappled her and tried to throw her onto the floor, but he could not move her. The woman forced him onto one knee.

Utgard-Loki screamed, "Stop the fight. There's no point in continuing. Thor and his companions have tried their best."

The next morning Utgard-Loki accompanied Thor and his companions on the road back to Asgard.

"My valiance has been stomped upon," said Thor, "How will I ever hold my head up around the gods?"

"I will tell you," said Utgard-Loki, "The giants had heard of your strength and we were not keen on fighting you. Therefore, I myself met thee in the forest under the name of Skrymir. If thou look closely to my caste, you will see three great valleys. Those are the marks of thy hammer blows. You were deceived in the contests. Loki's opponent was Flame, who devours everything in his path. The boy ran against Thought, which runs fastest of all. And as for you, Thor, when you were drinking from the horn, you were drinking from the sea. No one could drink an ocean dry, but you did lower it. From now own, twice each day the sea will empty and then refill, in memory of your heroic drafts. As for the cat, to raise one of its paws was an even greater feat, because the cat was the Midgard serpent, which wraps itself around the world. The attempt was valiant."

"The wrestling match showed thy true strength, for the crone was Old Age, and there never has been anyone, and never will be, that old age cannot beat."

Thor was furious that he had been thwarted; but just as he swung his hammer, the giant was gone. He found only the lush green fields and a gray sky.

Thor and his companions returned to Asgard.

As Thor was sitting at the dinner table, sulking, Loki turned to him saying, "The clever will always defeat brute strength."


End file.
